That was the first thing Kevin Garnett said last night after the Boston Celtics crushed the L.A. Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win their first championship since 1986. At least he didn't say "Minny."
I am genuinely happy for the Celtics, their fans, and especially Garnett. Garnett was a team player in Minnesota, didn't demand a trade in a situation in which just about any other superstar would have, and only left when it was clear that's what management wanted. He arrived in exactly the right situation and played well enough to cross himself off the "never won a championship" list. Now will he do what Ray Bourque did, and take the O'Brien Trophy to Minneapolis in the off-season?
As for the Celtics, I lived in Boston in the latter half of the '90s when the team had little going for it. I remember going to a game, when I was visiting schools, at a half-empty FleetCenter in which a scoreboard intro featuring the Celtic greats of the past gave way to a team whose marquee players were Dana Barros and Dino Radja. I went to Brandeis, where the team practiced and I once ran into Pervis Ellison at the gym, but they took off from there a couple of years after I arrived. Meanwhile, the Rick Pitino Era brought in big hopes that were dashed almost immediately.
Tiresome as it is that Boston has come without an improbable helmet catch of winning three consecutive titles in baseball, football, and basketball, I'm quite happy for the Celtics and I'm glad they won. The only remaining question is, what will Kevin McHale do with his playoff share?
Here's KG's awkward postgame interview with fellow ex-'Sotan Michele Tafoya:
Also loved the hug with Bill Russell. Had he won that with the Wolves, the hug would've been with... who? Tony Campbell? Pooh Richardson? Christian Laettner?
Waltham is not Boston....
Posted by: A at June 19, 2008 01:22 PM